


The Jajangmyeon Confession

by treya_barton



Category: Persona 4
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 07:12:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18464038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treya_barton/pseuds/treya_barton
Summary: April 14 is called Black Day in Korea and it's the day single people eat jajangmyeon which is a noodle dish with black bean sauce.  Yosuke finds out about the holiday and is determined that he and Yu, both single men, celebrate it~





	The Jajangmyeon Confession

Yosuke was idly scrolling through his phone as he lay sprawled out on his partner’s couch in his tiny apartment.  Yu was crammed in the corner at his computer desk working on a paper for class.  Yosuke was being quiet for a change since he didn’t want to disturb him, but he was starting to reach the end of his limit and was getting restless.  Yu and Yosuke had wanted to room together, but the small dorm rooms at the school they had chosen were set up as singles, and Yosuke had ended up getting a room on a different floor.  They often wound up in each other’s rooms anyway, cramming into the small spaces in order to hang out, not minding the forced intimacy because they were very close friends to begin with.  Finally, something caught Yosuke’s eye and he sat up in excitement.  “Partner, did you know today was Black Day?” he asked, staring down at his phone.

Yu turned in his chair to look at him before tilting his head slightly.  “What’s that?” he asked.  He had never heard of it before.

“April 14!  You know how Valentine’s Day is February 14 and White Day is March 14?  Well apparently in Korea they also have Black Day which is April 14.  It’s a holiday for single people,” Yosuke said, looking up and beaming at him.  “Finally, a holiday meant for us!”

Yu grimaced slightly when Yosuke wasn’t looking and slumped in his chair.  He glanced back at the paper he was working on, that he was so close to finishing, and knew he would now have to wait to finish.  When Yosuke got into these excitable moods, Yu was always swept along by his whirlwind of enthusiasm, although he usually didn’t mind.  “You’re supposed to eat jajangmyeon which is black bean sauce noodles – I wonder if that Korean place nearby has them?” Yosuke pondered.  “You wanna go find out for lunch?”

Yu let out a sigh before checking the time.  It was lunch time so it wouldn’t hurt to get something to eat.  Plus, he was always interested in trying new food.  He looked up and saw Yosuke’s hopeful expression and felt his initial resistance melt away.  “Of course,” he said, standing up and stepping over to his closet to grab his jacket.  Yosuke had lazily tossed his own over the back of the couch and quickly pulled his on as well. 

“Finally, a holiday I can celebrate!” Yosuke said excitedly, beaming at Yu as they headed out the door.  Yu felt a slight tinge of annoyance at Yosuke’s words, but he didn’t say anything.  Instead he tried to focus on the new culinary experience they were about to have.  Once they arrived at the Korean restaurant and were sat down, Yosuke quickly perused the menu before beaming as he spotted their dish.  “Look, they do have it!” he said in a loud whisper before pointing it out to Yu.  “I hope it’s good,” he added, looking back down at it.

They both ordered, and for a few minutes Yosuke chattered on about how it was so cool Korea had a holiday just for single people like them so they wouldn’t have to completely feel left out from Valentine’s and White Day, until he finally trailed off and gave Yu an ascertaining look.  “What’s up with you?” he finally asked, and Yu blinked before looking back at him.

“What do you mean?” he asked before taking a sip of the hot tea he had ordered.

“I dunno, you seem kind of…grumpy,” Yosuke said.  Yu was surprised by that, because honestly he didn’t think he was acting any different from normal.  He was always quiet and a bit reserved.  Leave it to Yosuke to somehow read him anyway.

“I just…” Yu trailed off.  “We _did_ celebrate Valentine’s Day,” he pointed out.

“Well, yeah, we gave each other chocolate, but it would have been too depressing otherwise,” Yosuke replied.

“And we celebrated White Day,” Yu added.

“Because we gave each other chocolate on Valentine’s Day – it would have been rude not to,” Yosuke said, furrowing his eyebrows.  “But it’s not the same, partner.  We’re friends and the other things are couples stuff.”

Yu heaved a sigh before balling up his hands into fists on his lap, unable to figure out how to say what he wanted without revealing everything.  Yosuke tilted his head as he watched Yu’s reaction, before slowly asking, “Do you…have a girlfriend that I don’t know about?  Is that why you didn’t want to do this?”

Yu’s eyes widened before he sharply replied, “No! I mean, no, Yosuke, that’s not it.”

Yosuke rubbed the back of his head and looked away, and Yu noticed he seemed almost relieved, although still in a turmoil about Yu’s reaction.  Before he could say anything, their waitress arrived with their dishes – large bowls of noodles covered in the black bean sauce and garnished with some cucumber.  “Well, ready to give it a try?” Yu asked, and Yosuke quietly nodded before they both dug in.  The dish was much milder than what they were used to for Korean food, but still quite good.  They ate in silence for several moments, until Yu finally couldn’t take the awkward silence anymore.

“I think I’m annoyed because I don’t want to be single,” he admitted, and Yosuke let out a chuckle.

“I don’t think anyone _really_ wants to be single, dude,” he joked. “Sometimes you just have to deal with it though.”

Yu felt the words slip out of his mouth before he could stop them.  “Go out with me instead,” he replied, and Yosuke sucked in his breath, taking in some of the jajangmyeon in the process and immediately choking.  Yu stood up and quickly walked over, smacking Yosuke on the back a few times as he coughed until it looked like he was finally breathing properly again.  Yu then began to absentmindedly rub Yosuke’s back soothingly until he stopped coughing.  Once Yosuke had calmed down, he pulled away slightly and stared up at Yu, cheeks slightly flushed although Yu couldn’t tell if it was embarrassment or the exertion from choking.

“Yu,” Yosuke started, startling the young man with his serious tone of voice.  Yu felt fear grip him as Yosuke continued.  “You don’t have to ask me out just because I’m available.  There are so many people out there who would love to date you.  Don’t waste your time on me.”

Yu felt his temper flare up at Yosuke’s words, surprised to see some of his old self-deprecation come out.  It certainly wasn’t how he expected Yosuke to turn him down.  “And if you’re the one I want to spend time with?” he asked, anger slipping into his voice as he placed his hand on his hip, using a pose Yosuke was all too familiar with from their days in the Shadow World. 

Yosuke’s mouth dropped open, and Yu could tell he almost asked, “Why?” but seemed to think the better of it.  Instead, Yosuke looked down for a moment, mulling over his words before glancing back up.  He was now blushing furiously and there was no question over why anymore.  “You really want to date _me_?” he asked, his voice cracking slightly, and Yu who was also lightly blushing gave a nod, suddenly feeling shy.

“You know I’d never deny you anything partner,” Yosuke rushed, and Yu shook his head.

“I only want to date you if that’s what _you_ want, Yosuke,” he replied firmly.

Yosuke’s heart was racing, and Yu notice him swallow before he replied.  “But I do want that.  I’ve…wanted it for quite awhile, actually,” he said, shyly smiling at Yu whose eyes widened in surprise.  He quickly pulled the seat out that was next to Yosuke before collapsing into it.

“Really?” he asked, staring at Yosuke with an expression of surprise mixed with awe.

“Yes, really.  Why do you think I made you that chocolate?” Yosuke asked, and Yu blushed.

“You just said it was as a friend,” he countered.

“Well, last I checked friends don’t typically give each other honmei chocolate,” Yosuke grumbled, and Yu chuckled.  “I just…I didn’t know how you felt and when you didn’t say anything…” he trailed off.

“Me too,” Yu replied.  “I know you probably thought I gave everyone the same chocolate, but you were the only one who got a special mold.  And I added orange to yours because I knew you liked it,” Yu admitted.  “You’re also the only one I gave a White Day gift to.  I think the others understood trying to give one to everyone would have been too expensive.”

They were both silent for a moment before Yosuke let out a deep sigh.  “Man, we can’t get any of the holidays right,” he said, and Yu tilted his head.  “We’re not together for the couples holidays and get together for the singles holiday…”  Yu started laughing before reaching forward and shyly offering his hand to Yosuke.  His heart skipped a beat as the brunet noticed before slowly placing his hand over it and lacing their fingers together.  It wasn’t the first time they had held hands, since they had often pulled each other up during battle and occasionally had allowed the touch to linger longer than necessary, but for the first time Yu felt a little nervous anticipation at the touch.  As he looked over at Yosuke and his soft smile at their interlinked fingers, he allowed himself to finally relax, before tugging Yosuke’s hand toward him and placing his lips briefly against the back of it.  Yosuke blushed furiously but didn’t pull away.

“Partner,” he whispered, a little embarrased, and Yu grinned at him.  They went back to eating, Yu struggling a little as he tried to use chopsticks with his off hand, but he refused to let go of Yosuke’s hand and stubbornly stuck with it, even if he made a little bit of a mess in the process. 

Now, he could truly enjoy the noodles, and he grinned at Yosuke before leaning forward and saying, “It looks like we’ll have to ironically celebrate this holiday every year for our anniversary,” and Yosuke chuckled in reply.

“Sounds good to me,” he grinned, squeezing Yu’s hand.  They enjoyed the rest of the meal, all of the tension from earlier completely dissolved, and they found it easy to slip into the next step in their relationship since the feelings had already been there all along.  Yu found he wasn’t nervous anymore and instead was looking forward to this change, and he anticipated what it would be like to date his best friend.


End file.
